Newcastle Preparatory School

Newcastle prep school got involved in Access All Arts week after taking part in our 2023 portrait competition in partnership with Portrait Artist of the Year. We spoke to their specialist Art Teacher, who works with years 2-6 to deliver weekly art lessons and led on the arts week within the school.

What made you decide to take part in Access All Arts week?

We first got involved through the portrait competition as I thought it was an excellent opportunity to get the whole of Key Stage 2 involved in an art competition celebrating the teachers who they admire most, by drawing their portraits.

How did you use the Access All Arts week resources to run your arts week?

We focused on the stop motion animation resources as this module was in keeping with our current class topic. The resources were very helpful when planning lessons as they are well structured. The children found them engaging as they included lots of clips from artists talking about their working methods and practices.

What did pupils get out of taking part in Access All Arts week and the portrait competition?

Pupils got the opportunity to work together on a large group project and to be inspired by contemporary artists and leading arts industry professionals. They were focused and engaging in participating in the portrait competition and took a lot of care and pride in creating their artwork. When creating the stop motion animations, the children were fascinated to hear from people who worked in Aardman Studios about their working processes. A great time was had by all as they explored how to animate their characters and they shared work online using animation platforms.